


Peacock Feathers

by Mosspool13



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 14:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15342192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosspool13/pseuds/Mosspool13
Summary: Fjord huffed and looked around at the group, crossing his arms, “Alright, who’s playin’ the practical joke?” He glanced down, “Jester?”Jester blinked innocently from the ground where she was scrawling dicks into the soft earth with a stick, “Joke? Fjord, you know that I am always serious business!”Kiri, sitting delicately beside Jester, mimicked her with a “serious business!” in Jester’s high voice.





	Peacock Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> I have finally added my hand to the Mighty Nein pot, and it is after the death of Molly. This fic will be a tribute to our fabulous tiefling in his memory. Hopefully things will work out, if not, I'm excited to see what sort of new character Taliesin will bring to the table! Though Molly will be missed :'(
> 
> Also this takes place in a nebulous universe where the Mighty Nein did not leave Kiri behind in Hupperdook, but the abduction still occurs except Molly survives the battle.

It had been a relatively uneventful day and evening, nothing bad or serious had happened and no distractions at night to bother them. The only highlight had been a peacock feather that Jester had found amongst Kiri’s coat.

“Oh, Kiri! You are spawning peacock feathers! Maybe, when you grow up to be an adult, you will become a little peacock!”

Kiri cocked her head and made a confused chirping sound.

“That is not how that works.” Caleb said, frowning.

They didn’t think much of it, maybe a bird had flown by and dropped a feather, or someone on the road they’d passed had lost a keepsake. Peacocks were not rare, but they were not common either, and tended towards the warmer climates of Wildemount.

It didn’t come up again until a day later, when Yasha came forward with a handful of feathers.

“Where’d you get those, Yasha?” Beau asked, sizing the feathers up.

“They were in my hair.” She said, expressionlessly. She didn’t seem perturbed, though Beau gave her an incredulous look, before craning her neck to get a better look at Yasha’s hair.

“All of those? And you didn’t notice?”

Yasha shook her head. “I did. I didn’t mind.”

Despite that, the Mighty Nein didn’t find it all that disturbing or strange or even interesting, except maybe Molly, who had taken the feathers from Yasha and had braided them through his hair and decorated them on his horns.

That was, until they’d woken up the next morning and found the entire campsite covered in peacock feathers.

Fjord huffed and looked around at the group, crossing his arms, “Alright, who’s playin’ the practical joke?” He glanced down, “Jester?”

Jester blinked innocently from the ground where she was scrawling dicks into the soft earth with a stick, “Joke? Fjord, you know that I am always serious business!”

Kiri, sitting delicately beside Jester, mimicked her with a “serious business!” in Jester’s high voice.

He sighed but didn’t say anything else, looking around up at the others.

Nott wrinkled her nose, holding a feather out by the tips of her fingers as far away from her as she could. “I don’t want anything to do with birds, except crows, maybe."

Caleb merely said, “Nein,” and then continued to read from the book clutched tightly in his hands. There were feathers stuck in his hair but he didn’t seem to mind.

Beau looked uninterested, waving her hand dismissively, “if you think any pranks of mine would involve throwing peacock feathers across our camp… you have no idea what I’m capable of.”

Fjord’s gaze passed quickly over Yasha, he has no doubt that she was in no way involved, and landed solidly on Molly, whose face was lit up with unvarnished delight.

Fjord sighed, “I should have known.”

Molly put a hand to his chest, “Fjord, I’m offended that you would think that I would have in any way, shape or form managed to pluck as many peacock feathers as I could and then fling them about the camp just to play a joke.” He pressed his other hand to his face, right over the beginnings of his tattoo, cocked his head in an affected way, and then grinned up at Fjord, “no, you’re right, that is exactly something I would do.”

“Molly…” Fjord sighed, and Molly grinned but shook his head again. “Honestly, Fjord, I’m as flummoxed as you about what the bloody hell these feathers are doing here. I’m not complaining though.”

He grinned toothily and began to start picking them up one by one off the ground, moving to each member of the Nein and flicking them in the nose with a feather. Beau swatted him away. Yasha gave him a small, brief smile. Caleb didn’t even move, not even when Molly ran a hand through his hair and gave it a messy rub. Nott grinned, or maybe she bared her teeth; it looked the same either way. Jester laughed and gave Molly’s nose a tap with her stick, a little too hard, so it made a smacking sound. Kiri clicked, mimicking the sound of the stick smacking Molly, causing he and Jester to laugh. Fjord just sighed for the third time that day.

“I guess it isn’t that big a deal.” Fjord said, smiling a little at the joy developing over Molly’s face. It was beginning to be shared by Jester and Kiri, and even Beau snorted a laugh when she looked at Yasha, who was carrying an armful of feathers, nearly twice Nott’s height. Caleb was still reading, but he was sitting in a patch of feathers, Frumpkin idly kneading them with his paws, and with his other hand, Caleb took a feather and placed it between the pages of his book. Nott was trying to eat the feathers and when Fjord gave her a perplexed look, she spit them out and claimed, “I’ve never tasted peacock before, I just wanted to know if it was any good.”

All in all, it was a relatively unproductive, but rather enchanting, day.

But the business they had come here to complete was done, and they were ready to move on and head back to Zadash to meet with The Gentleman to receive another task. They traveled the rest of the day several miles, until they were well away from the place they had been before.

Certainly the feathers wouldn’t follow them here.

And yet, it happened again.

“I swear,” Molly said, his hands up, versus Fjord’s penetrating stare. “It was not me.”

“What I’m curious about,” Caleb said, speaking up about the feathers for the first time, “is why they are here, when we had left that area from before.”

“Like it’s following us.” Fjord said, the both of them making eye contact and humming in agreement.

Jester’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Perhaps it is a creature that only poops in peacock feathers!”

“…are you saying that we are covered in poop right now?” Nott asked warily.

“Or it could just be molting.” Beau stated, with a straight face.

“There are way too many feathers for that to be possible.” Fjord objected, with a frown. The last time there had been enough feathers to cover the ground they’d been sleeping on. Now, there was at least a foot of feathers, nearly like snow, to tread through. Nott had woken up buried beneath them.

Molly, and Jester, of course, were the only two who were unconcerned. “Treat it like a new challenge.” Molly said with a grin. “See how long it takes before we all go crazy!”

“Oooh! We can make it a game! Whoever collects the most feathers wins!” Jester piped up, already running about, grabbing feathers and tucking them into the haversack.

Kiri puffed herself up, a little ball of black, before she reached out a wing, “feathers?” she said, in Jester’s voice, tilting her head towards herself.

“Yes, Kiri, You are made of feathers.” Jester nodded. “And if I collect you, I will have the most!” She swept up Kiri into her arms and hugged her. Kiri squawked in surprise, “I am very sweet.” She said, wrapping her wings around Jester’s head.

Fjord sighed again, he felt he’d been sighing a lot the past few days, “Fine, well we won’t be here for long so we can move on and hope the feathers don’t follow us on.”

They managed to sweep the feathers aside to collect their gear and continued their travels.

The next morning, cringing against the sunlight, Fjord was relieved to see their campsite was clear of feathers. Though, it seemed, that their group was missing some other things too.

“Have you seen Molly?” Beau asked, coming up on Fjord’s side. “He was on last watch tonight but I didn’t see him when I got up.”

Fjord stiffened, the last time some of the party had gone missing in the night, it’d been him, Jester and Yasha, abducted by slavers and taken away. Fjord could still taste the cloth that had been shoved into his mouth, could still remember the dark cage hidden under a tarp, trying desperately to keep his eye out for Jester and Yasha amongst the other captives. Thankfully, the rest of their party, and a dwarven woman named Keg, had saved them and they’d managed to seriously damage the slavery operation—though the leader of that group, Lorenzo, as Keg had told them, had managed to escape. Still, it brought terrible flashbacks to Molly’s near death at the hands of the man, a man that was still roaming free.

“We should look for ‘im.” Fjord said, “I’ll wake the others, you start checking out places nearby."

Once everyone had been woken up and told the situation, they began to search in earnest. Caleb turned Frumpkin into a falcon again and had him soar above the sky as an extra set of eyes. Even Kiri, who couldn’t fly but had excellent hearing, trotted after Jester in search of their wayward friend. Though she and Molly were by no means close, she still helped the rest of the Nein in searching. Yasha was the most affected. It wasn’t obvious unless you knew her, but it was in the way her shoulders were more tense than usual and, in the fact, that her usually placid expression was marred by creases in her brow and her lips were pulled tight into a thin line. 

It felt like hours before Frumpkin let out a cry and dove into a canopy of trees. Caleb pulled away from the hand he’d been clutching (Nott’s) and stepped hurriedly forward with only a quick, “We found him” thrown behind him. The rest of the Nein followed after him as he pushed his way through a grove of bushes and trees. 

They came upon a clearing, and inside of it, sitting on a tree stump was Molly, petting a peacock perched in his lap. He looked up as his friends arrived and flashed them a grin. “I knew you guys would find me!” 

Fjord sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time, “Damn it, Molly.” 

“What? I saw the little bugger during my shift last night and thought I might as well catch it, and I chased it through the woods. Barely managed it at all, actually.” 

Beau scowled at Molly before spitting out, “Fuck you, Molly” before she turned on her heel and stormed off back the way they had come. Molly raised an eyebrow after her, still stroking the peacock. The peacock seemed to be enjoying the petting, turning its head into the cup of Molly’s palm and crooning softly, plumping up its feathers. They looked like peas in a pod. Jester had wandered over by now and was cooing at the peacock, Kiri at her side, mimicking the sound. 

Caleb was frowning and petting Frumpkin, who was perched on his shoulder, more delicately than Molly was petting the peacock. “We thought you had been abducted.” He said pointedly, his accent making the words sound harsh and clipped. 

Molly eyes widened a bit and he glanced at the rest of the party, “oh, well damn, I hadn’t thought of that.” 

“Just warn us next time, Molly.” Fjord said, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Can do.” He said, unconvincingly, though he looked chagrined. He glanced at Yasha and mouthed a “sorry” to her. Yasha shook her head. She finally looked more herself, her shoulders down and a softness to her mouth where it curled briefly into a small smile. 

Molly stood up, still holding the peacock. It was not a very large bird, not nearly big enough to lose that much plumage in as many days. 

Nott was thinking the same thing. She glanced up at Caleb, “maybe it’s magic?” She asked. Caleb’s eyes flashed, briefly going a strange, almost electric blue, before they dimmed into their natural color. He shook his head, “nein.” 

They eventually made their way back to camp, Molly caressing the creature. “Perhaps now we will be safe from bird feathers.” Caleb said, eyeing the peacock from a safe distance away. 

Most of the Nein ignored the creature, going about their day as they would. Molly, however, kept it with him everywhere, even when they were hiding from a small militia group heading towards the war. 

“It doesn’t make any sound, we’ll be fine.” He said, when Beau had glared at him. 

“Then what is that noise.” Beau said, pointing at the creature. Molly was petting it and it was making that crooning sound again. 

“Oh, it’s like Frumpkin, it purrs.” 

“That is not how that works.” Caleb said, from his hiding place further back. 

When it was time for bed, Molly clutched the peacock to his chest and whispered words to it before he put it down. “Alright, my little friend, it seems our time together has come to an end.” 

“Finally.” Beau muttered. 

Molly flashed her a smile before he looked back at the peacock. “Fly high, little bird.” 

It looked up at Molly, blinked, and then waddled off into the bushes at breakneck speed. 

“Well,” Molly said, turning around and clapping his hands together. “That was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.”

“Not as cute as Kiri!” Jester piped up, hugging their little black bird friend. 

“I am very sweet!” Kiri said. 

“That had better be the last time I ever see a peacock feather, ever, in my life.” Beau said, turning to sleep for the night. 

And that seemed to be the case. For the next few days, they had featherless mornings. Except for an occasional Kiri feather found here or there, once even in Beau’s evening soup. It was a relief, really. 

“I kinda miss it.” Fjord admitted, later, to Yasha, on their watch a few nights later. “If anything, it was an interesting interlude.” 

Yasha nodded. “I liked braiding the feathers through Molly’s hair.” 

“I think Caleb kept one as a bookmark.” 

And then, that next morning, they woke up to Molly’s entire bedspread being covered in peacock feathers and the purple Tiefling was wearing an almost enlightened look on his face. “You know,” he said, still laying amongst them. “I think they’re mine.” 

“ _You_ shed peacock feathers?” Beau said disbelievingly. 

“Maybe? I don’t know. You got any better ideas?” 

“Yes. Loads of them. And none of them are shit.” 

“They do feel like Molly.” Jester said, holding up a feather and twirling it between her forefinger and thumb. 

“So, yeah, let’s say that these weird feathers are Molly’s. That doesn’t explain why they are showing up now of all times. We’ve been travelin’ together for a good few months now.” Fjord pointed out. He eyed Molly. “Unless you are trying to say that you are part bird or somethin’.” 

“You know, I could be.” 

“Yeah, and I’m secretly part alligator.” 

“That would explain a lot.” 

“Go fuck yourself, Molly.” 

“Fuck you, Beau.” 

“Okay.” Fjord cut in loudly over them. He looked at Molly. “Let’s say they are yours, why are they appearing now?” 

“I don’t know… There isn’t anything different, I think, other than, well,” he seemed to still for a moment, looking around at the rest of the Mighty Nein, “I’m just. Happy.” Molly’s face softened, and he smiled all pretty, and suddenly, a bout of feathers materialized in the air above all their heads and cascaded down around them like falling snow. 

Caleb, his eyes a bright electric blue, looked around while frowning, his forehead creased in confusion. “Still no magic.” 

Jester clapped in awe and glee. “That was amazing Molly!”

Molly looked surprised too, but mostly amused. “Well, look at that.” 

Yasha, from where she was leaning against a nearby tree, spoke up in her soft voice, “I would find feathers sometimes when we lived in the circus. Not many, but sometimes. I always thought they were nice.” 

Molly grinned at her. Beau had her face hidden in her hands while Jester was dancing amongst the falling feathers with Kiri. “Fucking hell.” She said into her hands. 

Fjord crossed his arms, but he was smiling, amused despite himself. “Well, it could be worse, I guess. It’s only a bit of feathers.” 

Nott scowled. “Except for that time, I woke up buried beneath them.” 

“True.” 

Her face softened. “But. They are cute.” She made her way over to Kiri and Jester, who were still dancing, and joined them, if hesitantly. 

So, the Mighty Nein moved on, and occasionally they woke up amongst peacock feathers, or sometimes they rained down around them when something or someone made Molly laugh. Yasha had started to braid everyone’s hair with feathers, though it took a long time before Beau allowed it anywhere near her hair. It was all quiet, simple, and pure. 

And really, if this was the price to pay for making Molly happy, well, none of them really minded too much.


End file.
